The Wisdom of Shakespeare

I love the graphic that illustrates this quote by William Shakespeare. Everything went well at my Certificate of Occupancy inspection today and the carpenter bee treatment. We had some fierce blowing rain late this afternoon and I had quite a time cleaning up my wet floors and windowsills. I had open windows all over the house and couldn't close them quickly enough. It really cooled things off for my after supper walk with the Wonder Dog. 

I found a photo of the bedroom in the house where my new love seats once lived. I'm still over the moon with joy over them. Webster is still being a perfect gentleman and is respecting them too. 

My tall brass lamps were once in the dining room of this lovely house.

Here are the furnishings in my cottage for those of you who missed my previous posts.

I think everything looks perfectly cozy at my house, don't you? Enjoy your Friday evening. I'll be stretching out on the love seat by the window pretty soon, watching my small television. I changed the artwork to the right of the window. See photo here. See you tomorrow. xo

Stately Fern

I took this photo of a lone fern standing against leaves of a darker green a couple of days ago. I loved the way it stood out with its lighter shade of green. Ferns are my among my favorite wild plants. I have a busy day this morning with another inspection and a carpenter bee treatment at the early blue house. See you later. xo

Country Kitchen in Summer

Nothing says summer better than watermelon and peaches, right? via

Life's Little Instruction Book | Volume II | Page 80

This makes me want to finish my weeding. I never did finish the front. We are supposed to have rain for the weekend and I've been waiting for a rainy day to loosen them. xo

For Sale: Renée Zellweger’s Old House in Connecticut

Click here for slideshow from Architectural Digest.

The clapboard exterior of Renée Zellweger’s 18th century Connecticut retreat.

The primarily white kitchen has butcher-block countertops. I wouldn't want this half-wall looking into the formal dining room. I wouldn't want to look at the hanging pot rack in the kitchen from the dining room. 

The Quinebaug River runs through the property.

A Gerdener's Perfection

I would never be able to have anything this perfect without a full-time gardener. Real gardeners are hard to find that can work alone without supervision. via

Webster is still playing nice.

I still can't believe my good luck with Webster and Tabitha and the new furniture in my living room. I have stopped putting barricades in front of the sofas at night because Webster knows his place in the world of new furnishings. I'm not sure how Tabitha is going to behave this winter but we'll see. For now, when I bring her inside she's happy on a blanket on my bed. It was very chilly last night and she slept there all night and went out first thing this morning. We are having delightful weather and the high today is supposed to be only 79° and it feels like the beginning of fall instead of the end of July! Having all the windows wide open is my idea of heaven. See you later. xo

I finished my lawn trimming.

I had a very busy day on Saturday and finished trimming with my electric weed whacker in both the front and the back. Tabitha watched. I'm happy to say I'm all caught up on my mowing and trimming but still have to hand weed the wood-chipped area on the other side of the front walk. It rained last night so the crab grass will be easy to hack out. There's no end to yard work, is there? 

Love this Kitchen

I love the floor. It looks like cork tiles which I love because they are so easy on the feet, legs, and back when standing for long periods. This is a great layout and I wouldn't change much. I would want a sink the width of the window even though there's another in the island. I would probably skip that one for a deep double sink under the window. Wish I could see the rest of the room. via

Wonderful Period Interior

So understated and simple. Love the colors. via

About Time - A Delightful Movie

Click here if you can't see video below.

I woke up way too early this morning and treated myself to a movie on my iPad. I wasn't at all sure I was going to like it, but ended up loving it. It was a long one too, a little over two hours and that was a huge plus since I didn't want it to end. It takes place in Cornwall, England and London. Here's the review on Rotten Tomatoes. I loved the English family and their delightful house and property. Bill Nighy plays the father. Watch it if you can. Trust me, you'll love it. xo

Corn on the Cob for Two

Have you had any good corn this year? via

Have a Restful Weekend

This looks like an ideal place to wile away the weekend with a good book. I just finished Every Last One by Anna Quindlen and loved it. In a nutshell - it's a novel about facing every last one of the things we fear the most, about finding ways to navigate a road we never intended to travel. photo credit

Great Cabin Cottages

I can hear the porch swing creaking now. I'll bet it's wonderfully cool inside with all that shade. It's nice being able to sit in the front too. via

This cabin porch in Charlottesville is perfect, isn't it? It's like being inside and outside at the same time. via

Abandoned Cottage

This looks like a fun project. I wonder how long it has been unloved? via

Enjoying the cut grass.

I mowed for over 6 hours today and it's starting to look pretty good around here. It was a perfect day to cut tall grass on my riding mower. This is only the third or fourth cutting this year. I only cut about once a month. I know that's not often enough but I can always find an excuse for putting it off. Too hot, too wet, no gas, no oil, too late, etc. Actually, I have to be in the mood to mow and today I was! I did use my last drop of SAE 30 small engine motor oil and the empty container is on the kitchen table to remind me to pick up more. I almost always use my walk behind mulching mower for the front so grass doesn't get blown against the house. It was so long I did run my Snapper over it going in only one direction. Tomorrow I will go over it again with the power push mower so I won't have so much hand trimming. Webster and Tabitha like what I've done so far. Webster has decided to join me in the living room on one of his beds. He's over his pout, I guess. Enjoy the evening. I'm sure I hope I won't mow in my sleep tonight. I feel like I still have my roller skates on, if you know what I mean. xo

Best Eye Liner

His name is Sherlock. Mother Nature gave him the most wonderful eye liner, didn't she? We had a storm late yesterday that cooled things off nicely. I had the windows open last night and threw a light blanket on top of my bed spread because Miss Tabitha decided to sleep with me. She woke me up early and wanted to go outside and I went right back to sleep, thankfully. Webster has decided to punish me by spending most of his time upstairs. He has a nice bed in front of an eyebrow window in the attic and I guess that's his preferred substitute for his spot on the old sofa. I'm still babying him to help him get over his hurt leg before it gets to be chronic. We've had three good days in a row and I'm very pleased. I think he views his two dog beds in the living room as "sick" beds. Let's hope he doesn't need them again anytime soon. xo

Fresh Eggs from Happy Chickens

Great sign in a very interesting kitchen. via

Truly Wonderful Farmhouse

I like the stepped roofline of this white farmhouse. The brick walkway is pretty nice too and the Versailles planter boxes are on my want list. via

Beautiful Rice Fields

Small reflection on rice field by Yongyot_Therdthai Larger version of this incredible photo here.